Lothagam Camping Trip

The students went on their first overnight camping trip to Lothagam, a site that dates as far back as eleven million years, and contains fossils and artifacts from as little as several thousand years ago. It consists of a series of faults and outcrops formed by both a once gigantic lake, and volcanic/tectonic activity.

Group picture at Lothagam, about an hours drive from TBI campus.

Students saw many different landscapes, including sand plains, outcrops revealing sedimentary layers, and even a burial site that has yet to be excavated, and is associated with early pastoralism.

Walking in a river bed

A beautiful beetle

Interesting hike through ancient rock.

Students found stone tools, fossil bones of large mammals, and 6.5 million years old giraffe foot prints. The Lothagam area once housed an enormous lake and many ancient shells are still visible today. Even today, sediment is still being accumulated and eroded during the rainy seasons, when many of the small basins and river beds there are filled with water.

Old pottery shards

After a delicious dinner, students went to sleep under the stars. The overall consensus: an amazing trip!